Olenovain
by Fayth3
Summary: This Planet is … imagine Earth’s idea of heaven. The living don’t belong here but I show you so much death and destruction, I want to show you heaven too, Rose.”


**Whispers**

They stepped out onto the lush, blue planet and Rose stared around.

It really was one of the most beautiful places the Doctor had ever brought her to. He'd called it Olenovain; the Planet of the Blue, but the way he'd said it made the vowels longer and the name sound just as beautiful as the scenery.

The rolling mountains in the background were capped with icy blue snow which deepened into steel coloured rocks and darkened into aqua, azure and navy as it melded with the verdant fields of turquoise corn wafting in the breeze.

The wind was slightly chilly as it raised goose bumps over Rose's arms but she really didn't care as she luxuriated in all the different shades of blue that surrounded her.

There was the cerulean sky, the clear pale blue of the clouds, the sparkling sapphire of the seas with its crystal tipped crests and waves, and the midnight and periwinkle plumage of the birds as they rose above the cresting ocean.

Rose opened her mouth to exclaim at the beauty but she was beaten by the Doctor who had his hand over her mouth before she could do so much as inhale.

"Shh." He placed his other finger to his lips at her questioning look and he stepped closer, turning her about so that she could still see the landscape.

He moved so that her back was against his chest and he leaned down.

"Olenovain is also called the silent planet," he whispered into her ear. "It's considered a sin to raise your voice here."

Rose could feel his warm breath brush over her sensitive lobes and fought a shudder.

He was far more tactile in this body and thought nothing of invading her personal space, treating her like an extension of his own body. Most of the time she didn't mind. She loved holding hands and being brought in for a swift hug.

But when his movements were as slow and deliberate as they seemed to be of late, she couldn't help but remember that this wasn't just her best friend, wasn't just her travelling companion but was a man.

A man that she was in love with.

When that happened she found it hard to be close to him, found it hard not to blurt out her feelings or just lean into him for a kiss, for an embrace, forever.

Of course, that would be spectacularly stupid and so she tried to edge away but the Doctor held her tighter and pulled her into his arms. "It's also called Peace—"

Rose swallowed.

He brought his head closer until his lips brushed the tip of her ears, his hand still curved around her face. "—or the planet of whispers."

She closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose.

_Calm deep breaths. _

_Don't let him see the effect he's having on you._

She opened her eyes, her will-power in place and nodded against his hand. He pulled it away from her lips, letting it hover for a second before allowing his fingers to slide over her cheek and pull her hair away from her ear.

The feather touches made her skin tingle and itch, a sensation that carried down her spine in tiny electro-pulses which urged her to turn, to grab him and …

Rose mentally slapped herself.

"Ancient Civilisations came here," The Doctor sighed into her ear, "monks, peace-makers, the lost, the found, pilgrims. No one lives here though."

"Why?" she breathed, his voice sliding like honey into her brain.

"Because the Planet is … imagine Earth's idea of heaven. The living don't belong here. We won't stay long. But I wanted you to see and hear…" He trailed off and pulled her in even tighter.

"I show you so much death and destruction, I want to show you heaven too, Rose."

"'s beautiful," she whispered, trying to fight it.

But the curve of his mouth against her hair nearly undid all her hard work as she imagined that smile so close to her.

"Yes. Beautiful." His voice was velvet smooth as he bent close again. "Listen."

Rose listened.

"No," he urged. "Close your eyes and _listen_."

Her eyes drifted shut of their own accord and she focussed on her ears the way he had taught her.

Close by was the rustling of his coat in the breeze, the brown material flapping behind him like a superman cape. His trainers crunched the denim-coloured grass under his feet as he shifted his weight, unable to keep still.

His breath drifted out in an almost silent stream, mingling with the wind and she could clearly hear the rhythmic double-beat of his heart.

As she concentrated her own breaths joined his and her heart-beat sang along with his in a complimentary melody. Three hearts in perfect sync.

The wind rushed over the grass, tickling it with its fingers of air and the rushing sound echoed around her feet as the dancing winds parted to slide over the two entwined bodies, coming together again at their backs with a jubilant laugh, almost cocooning Rose and the Doctor.

Further out the ebb and flow of the sea was a dull roar, the cascading swell bursting over the rocks with a clinging embrace. Droplets hung on the crystalline rocks, resisting the slide back down to join the mighty ocean and casting prisms as it lost the fight to return to the deep.

The birds were oddly silent, except for the whoosh of air as the feathers turned the current into flight patterns, their wings riding on the columns of draft.

Everything was peaceful, beautiful and … underneath it all was something else.

Underneath it all was something intense, resonating inside her, tugging at her body, yanking it down like gravity, but deeper, more intrusive, more impressive.

Humming.

A humming coming from inside. No. Outside. Close to but far away.

Rose pulled away from the Doctor's arms and tried to follow the sound, tried to hear.

Absently she felt two strong hands on her shoulders, guiding her, not letting her move too far, but all her attention was on the song she could hear.

It was everywhere and yet nowhere.

Her ears weren't picking it up, though; it was coming from somewhere else.

Without warning she knelt down, her hand splayed over the grass, her fingers entwined in the earth.

There.

The humming entered her fingers, shooting up her spine and down her arms, entering her head where it thrummed around her brain and swept over her consciousness.

It was singing; singing like she could almost remember from when she was child and just verging on the edges of sleep and awake.

It reminded her of choirs and monks and panpipes and echoes.

It was like shadows and ghosts and children playing and long lost civilisations all whispering to her their secrets, begging her to play, to live, to sing with them.

Rose opened her mouth to join in but nothing came out. It was like speech had been stolen from her and replaced with a double beat of her heart, a frantic tempo joining in with the song.

She wanted to fall into the song, join the singers and blow away on the breeze, dancing over the fields and sea, losing herself forever on the current.

Strong arms grasped her shoulders and pulled her up.

The humming stopped and Rose felt like someone had ripped her heart out and made her deaf.

Big brown eyes filled her vision and a concerned but happy smile asked her if she was all right.

"I . . ." Rose breathed and The Doctor nodded.

"I know."

"It's the Planet," she whispered. "I could feel the Planet."

"And all those who had gone before and all those who would ever be. Echoes and ghosts and memories and future." He reached up and wiped tears away from her cheeks.

Tears she couldn't remember crying.

"So beautiful," Rose couldn't find the words to explain, human vocabulary just wasn't good enough. There were no words and it _hurt_.

The Doctor seemed to understand. "_Gay't'lai_."

"Gayt'lie?"

He smiled. "It was a word from Gallifrey that they used to describe the start of the Universe. It means soul-breaking."

Rose nodded, swiping tears away. "Yeah. That's it."

There was something different now that she was aware of it and she turned in his arms to stare at the distance. "The mountains are singing!"

"Hmm." The Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist again and pressed her close. Rose leaned back against him, not fighting it and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Travelling with you; I love it. The Death, destruction and chaos. It's all worth it for this." Rose exhaled in time to the voices drifting over the swaying corn.

"And this," He tightened his arms to show her what he meant. "Someone to share it with."

Rose smiled. "Better with two."

He was silent a moment. "Better with _you_."

He pressed a kiss to her hair and relaxed, their bodies moulding into each other as the words spun around them, gaining in force and potency until it was as good as a declaration.

Then the wind snatched the whispers away from the lovers and made them into a song. A song which danced over the field and the swept over the waves until long after the lovers were dust and the sun burned to nothing.


End file.
